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Author: Alexis

We have an announcement. This was a big decision and not one we came to lightly, but we wanted to let you all know as early as we could. We have decided to retire RWchat at the end of the month.

Running this chat and providing this space every Sunday evening for the past four years has truly been a joy. However, our personal and career obligations have increased, and we can no longer continue the behind the scenes tasks that go into maintainingRWchat.

The last RWchat will be on January 27th, one week before the 4 year anniversary. To everyone who has ever participated, you have our heartfelt thanks for helping to make this space and community so wonderful. We couldn’t have done it without you.

You all have our deepest gratitude. With love,Alexis, CL, Kim, and Robin

Writing kissing and sex scenes over and over has the potential to become stale or boring. How many different ways can you say, “They kissed”? What do you do when you’ve used the words “lips,” “tongues,” and “mouths” too many times in the same scene? Have you ever used the phrase, “Their tongues battled for dominance”? And really, how often do your characters need to “look” at each other? Let’s talk about how to keep it fresh in your relationship–with words–and how to get through those sexy scenes without repeating the same old words and phrases. Join us Sunday, June 3rd, at 7pm EST/4pm PST.

It’s Flirty February! This week on #RWchat, we’re talking about love scenes! Regular participant LaQuette (author of the Queens of Kings series) is known for writing extra hot love scenes, so we asked her to handle this week’s guest post. Take it away, LaQuette!

I love romance novels. To my way of thinking, that should be a given since I write them for a living. I love the excitement of experiencing the couple’s journey to love. I love knowing I’m going to get a happy ending when it’s finished. And yes, I even love all of the sizzling parts that make me put down my reading device and fan myself because the chemistry and/or love scene is so hot (if you’re not having this experience while reading a romance novel you are missing out on everything that is good in life).

Now that you know I love romance novels, you should also know there is one thing that irks my reader’s brain while reading one. The one thing that will make me roll my eyes, and snatch me out of the reading experience quicker than anything else is too much dialogue during a sex scene.

In three act structure, the character goes on a journey from inciting incident to midpoint to climax. Action rises and falls. At the end, if it’s a romance, there’s a happily-ever-after. For authors, we take our own journey, from the inception of an idea, to the execution of said idea, to—hopefully—publishing this idea in the form of a polished and complete story. For this chat, we’ll take a look at the overall journey, and focus specifically on the author’s low point, when self-doubt kicks in, all seems lost, and you wonder, “What if it’s a bad book?” Join us Sunday, January 7th, 7pmET/4pmPT.

The arrival of a new year always kicks off discussions about change and goals. This week, we’re not going to talk about goals plural. We’re just going to talk about one. We’ll be breaking down The One Thing you want to accomplish in your writing career in 2018, and how to make sure it happens. Join us December 31st at 4pm PT | 7pm ET to get laser focused on a successful new year.

Sometimes you’re a CP, sometimes you’re the shoulder to cry on, sometimes you’re a productivity coach. What kind of strengths do you have and what do you need? Bring the most to your writer friend supergroup by joining us at 4pm PT| 7pm ET on Sunday, December 24th.

You’ve done the work. You’ve got rich, layered characters with flaws and pasts. You’ve got an interesting world that pulls the reader in. Your black moment has made the main characters doubt they’ll ever be happy again. But now it’s time to give your characters (and your readers) the ending they deserve. How do you make sure your payout packs all the punch it possibly can, and leaves your readers feeling satisfied and optimistic? Let’s talk about it on December 17th at 4pm PT | 7pm ET.